Pictures

Here are some pictures of gunboats in action. The first one depicts the Swedish retreat after the battle of Palva sund, the second one gunboats firing at Sandöström. Both battles figure in the novel. The pictures are scans from this book.

Now at Amazon.com

The book can now be ordered through amazon.com as well.

More background: The Finnish War

Several Readers have expressed the wish to read some more about the Finnish War of 1808-1809, a part of the Napoleonic Wars that isn't very well known outside Scandinavia. I found a very good summary of the events on this website. There is a special section dedicated to the coastal fleets as well as the involvement of the Royal Navy.

New alternative download site

The ebook is now available in yet more file formats on the Smashwords site. These are pdf, epub, Kindle, PalmDoc and several more. The downloads are still free, of course.

First printed copies

I got the first printed copies yesterday and they really look good. For now they are available from Lulu directly, but soon they will appear on amazon.com as well.

Background facts: The gunboats

If you are interested in the vessels used by the inshore fleet, and the gunboats like our dear Number 14, this site is a good resource. Unfortunately the author mistranslated the Swedish term "kanonslup" into "Gun Sloop" which isn't very accurate considering that in English, a sloop is a completely different kind of vessel (in the Royal Navy the term could be applied to all kinds of vessels up to the size of a corvette). Otherwise, the site does provide a good summary of the vessels and tactics of the inshore fleet (army fleet).

There are some models of Chapman type gunboats, for example in the maritime museum in Stockholm. The only good picture I have seen on the web, however, is of an early type, with the removable land artillery carriage.

The picture above, albeit not as good, shows the later type of gunboat, like the ones in my novel.

A short review...

If you liked Patrick O'Brian's naval war stories, but wished there was a little more sex sprinkled through them, Gunboat # 14 is the book for you.

George Bollenbacher, USA